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End of Month Review - October 2014

October has seen the much needed return of rain and the arrival of Autumn. It has also been a mild month, as I write this the last day of the month is due to reach 20c this is remarkably warm.

The magnolia in the front garden is starting to lose its leaves, a good sign that Autumn is here. It is also covered in buds already for next year. It looks like it will have lots of flower next year, which is something to look forward to.

The Knot Garden looks suitably knotty. The hedges have been trimmed fairly recently in readiness for the winter.

The Quince Hedge is still not quite a hedge yet but it definitely growing much better now and getting quite bushy. I am hopeful it will flower well in the Spring.

Around the corner to the side of the house and the gravel garden is still very green and very covered in Mexican daisies.

The rarely seen Bird Feeder border, (or should it be the green hose border?) is dominated by the Manx fuchsia this time of year. Every year it grows a bit stronger and a bit bigger. It has done very well this year.

The cardoon in the Coal Bunker Border is already putting on new growth for next year. I worry a little about this as we have all the cold, frost and snow to get through.

The asters that were so wonderful just a couple of weeks ago are now a mess of dead flowers. It is not an attractive habit, but these are quite a nice colour in their deadness so I shall let them be for now.

In the Courtyard, along with more green hose, the Rhododendron luteum has it's Autumn colouring and the camellia is covered with buds.

The Sarcoccoa confusa has lots of berries that are on their way to turning black. Soon it will be placed on the front door step so that it can do its winter thing.

From the rear of the Conservatory Border the garden looks mainly brown and green now, there seems little other colour.

Looking closer though, there is still colour to be found. The Pond Border is still doing quite well with the cosmos, tithonia and zinnias still flowering away.

The Rose Hyde Hall hedge is still flowering well too. I am hoping that will thicken up even further next year.

This picture of the Prairie Borders makes them look vast, they are not really, but I like the idea of them being so. They are in full Autumn mode now with the Echinops looking fairly dead. The Verbena bonariensis is still flowering well and proving that it should be there after all. I think it has spent most of the year trying to convince me that it is in the right place and it has succeeded. I am even looking forward to how it develops next year now.

To the rear of the Prairie Borders and to the right of the Woodland Borders there are the Aldi Acers. These are a special type of acer that were very very cheap. They have been in situ for six years or so now and are developing really well. They provide wonderful flashes of colour this time of year.

The top corner where the great tree catastrophe took place has been planted up with several more shrubettes and some white foxgloves c/o Miss S. I am hopeful they will look really good next year.

The Gingko appears to be surviving the digging up, turning around and replanting horror that took place.

and the snapped off Davidia is showing some new growth. I live in hope that it will survive.

Meanwhile Bruce (his gingerness to his minions) is trying to push the Horse Chestnut tree over.

The Wild Garden is looking quite Autumnal and I have great hopes for it next year. There are now many more bulbs in it and more shrubs. The leaning Catalpa in the centre of this photograph is going to get some attention once it has gone into dormancy. It needs staking back upright and I think one of its two main branches needs to come off it make it have one lead.

The Spindle tree is colouring up well.

The other gingko is turning buttery yellow.

and the Medlars need harvesting soon but I think they like a bit of frost first if possible.

In the Tree Lupin border the echinacea are doing their brown cone thing and the dahlias are still flowering.

I have planted out one of my two tree dahlias I have grown from seed. I am assured that if I mulch it well it will get through the winter. My cautiousness means I am still keeping the other one in the greenhouse this time, but if it does get through ok then it will join its sister outside.

Meanwhile the other peonies are showing how the recent winds have affected them.

and the lone rose from the abandoned, never really got started, side border flowers to itself in misery. I might give this area more thought this Winter. It lacked purpose and direction so never came to be. I shall have to stand and stare at it a few times to see if inspiration strikes.

The Four Sisters however are happy in their world.

After three years of sulking because I moved it to a more sheltered, more suitable location; the Carol Klein acer has grown well this year.

and the Edgeworthia has grown very well this year. I will anxiously watch it all Winter and I vaguely hope for flowers next year.

I just love how Autumn colour ripples through the pleached hornbeams.

The veg borders look a bit sad. The sweetcorn needs removing now but produced really well this year. The broccoli I did not remove from last year looks like it might broccle again, now wouldn't that be rather wonderful?

The greenhouse is looking full of various overwinterings, cuttings and seedlings.

and his gingerness.

and the pond? Yes its still a disgrace, yes I am going to clear it out, maybe even before the end of November. It will be done (promise).

Comments

Such a wonderful garden Alison, so much going on and such diversity. It really must keep you very busy, I don't know how you manage it. I love Medlar trees, a fabulous unusual fruit. You also still have cosmos and zinnias, great!

Hi Ronnie, thanks for the nice comment - it does occupy me quite a bit, but usually in phases so I will spend a weekend sorting it out but then maybe not so much the weekend after - it works for me so far :)

Thanks for the roundtour in your garden, it is quite big with a diversity of trees, shrubs and plants, you must have an awful lot of work to do, but it is your hobby and you have good company of Bruce.

Lawrence photo-bombed the September EoMR, but Austin is very much an inside cat. She emerges rarely as life scares her far too much.

My sarcoccoa is in a pot and has happily been there for a couple of years now. I want to take some cuttings from it so I can grow it in the main garden as well. It probably will need a bigger pot soon, it works well in a pot as I can move it around to where I want it.

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